Calling all wannabe NBA Scouts...Ever disagreed with one of our scouting reports, disappointed by a player you know well not being written about quick enough, or just wanted to be able to have your own say at DraftExpress? Well starting today, you will be able to make your own custom scouting reports or player observations exactly the way YOU think it should done.

All you need to do to join in on the fun, if you have not done so already, is register for a free username with DraftExpress. Once you have done so, follow THIS link, find the player you want to write about from the pull-down menu, edit the subject line accordingly and start writing your report.

Another way to access this feature is by clicking on the scouting report of your favorite player, let’s say Lamarcus Aldridge for example, and clicking on the “Create Scouting Report” link you will see right above the scouting report tabs IF you are logged in. After you’re done, run it through your own spell checker, hit the submit button afterwards and our staff will be summoned to look at your report and approve it so it can be added to that player’s individual profile, in both the “comments” and “links” tab.

You must be registered to create your own scouting reports or observations so you can save it to our database, make changes and let all our visitors view your work. This is just another of many present and future interactive features that will require this as well.

A few things to keep in mind:

-At this point this is strictly an experiment. Whether we expand this, how far we take things and how much leeway we give our users is up to you guys. Take your time and be thorough.

-A minimum of 500 characters (not words) has been put in for quality control purposes. This is roughly the equivalent of 5-6 well written sentences or so. There is no maximum.

-Not every report will be automatically available to be seen by our visitors. Every report will be looked over by a staff member shortly after it’s added, and only reports that we deem have value for our readers will be approved. If your report is rejected, you will be informed along with the reasoning and what you might want to change before you resubmit.

-You can make changes or remove your entire report at any time via the My Scouting feature. Just use the buttons that are in place.

-If this feature turns out to be as useful as we think it might, we will add a box on the front page of the site (like the headlines or TV watch) spotlighting some of the best user scouting reports or observations.

-If you want your entry to stand out from the crowd, give it an interesting title in the subject line. “Player X Scouting Report” is the default, but you can edit it anytime to describe it better.

-Should you choose to abuse the system and either steal or plagiarize a report from somewhere else, or just enter in nonsense to waste our time, you will be banned not only from writing future scouting reports, but also from ever visiting DraftExpress.

-From now on, people who email us (sometimes via the “opportunities” section) wanting to possibly join the staff and begin to write for DraftExpress will be encouraged to use this system. So if you want to impress us or the hundreds of professional scouts and executives in the business who visit our site, you have a great tool at your disposal. Even if you just want to blog about specific draft or NCAA related issues that you are interested in, this is a great way to start.

-You'll have no editor, so proofread your work, plug it into a word processor, make sure the grammar and spelling looks OK, and then submit it.

-If you have any problems whatsoever using this new feature, or have an idea about how to improve it, please let us know via the “contact us” section.

Suggestions on what to write about:

-It’s called My Scouting, so obviously the main purpose was to give people a place to write scouting reports and let them share them with the world. Below and eventually in its own separate tab you will find a template and guidelines on how to write a DraftExpress caliber scouting report, complete with specific things you might want to look at and lingo you might want to use. You can even print this out to use while you are watching the player in question. Don’t be lazy, you have to actually go out and scout the players, sometimes multiple times. It doesn’t end there, though.

-An interesting matchup you watched between two teams or players (similar to our Marquee Matchup series) could also make for an interesting feature. Think about this while you are watching the NCAA and conference tournaments.

-Disagree with our own scouting reports? Make an entry titled: “why DraftExpress is wrong about so and so.” Write in a legible and expressive fashion and there is no reason why we will not approve your report.

-As our database of players grows, you can also write about players from last year’s draft or next year, players from two years ago. A report on Chris Paul’s adjustment to the NBA, an evaluation of why a certain rookie is struggling, a player who is not getting the recognition he deserves…all are things that could be of interest to our users.

-Be creative. If you have something to share that our readers might find interesting to read, don’t hesitate to write about it and submit it.

Template/Guidelines for writing DraftExpress caliber scouting reports

Property of DraftExpress

Make five different categories/sections, matching the five tabs on every DX player profile, with only the first two being absolutely essential to write about. Bold them.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Competition

Outlook

Facts

Start off in the first paragraph of either the strengths or weaknesses by talking about their physical attributes and athleticism. If it’s a 6-4 PG with superb quickness, that goes in the strengths. If it’s a 6-9 center with short arms, that goes in the weaknesses. Players should realistically have strengths and weaknesses in both their offensive and defensive games, and a mix of the other attributes, so write about them.

Use these as suggestions about things to look at and potentially write about. You obviously do not need to write about all of them. Some may refresh your memory about things you should talk about.